Dessert Gallery

My little brother was in town not too long ago and we were sitting in the living room one night trying to figure out what we were going to do when it hit us!!! Seriously, it hit us at the same exact time!  Wanna go to Dessert Gallery?  Heck yes I do!  It's about 35-40 minutes away, but it's well worth the drive. It's even worth a blogpost...   

It's my favorite dessert place in the whole world, and I don't think that will ever change. 

Agreed.

Dad happened to be downtown working his extra job that night, and came by for a small smackerel. 
Yes! Good times.

Six Years!

I feel the need to celebrate! I feel the need to shout from the rooftops! I feel the need to say I've been married for six years! Actually, six years and one day. Yesterday was one heck of a day that involved me puking my brains out, so today will have to do.
Wanna know something funny? I've been playing country love songs on pandora all day trying to give myself some inspiration for this blogpost. Some of them actually made me cry, which isn't so hard to do now-a-days. Seriously though, what the heck Jess? Still no inspiration. Country music usually always does the trick! Nothing but a lonely wife blubbering over missing her husband. Straighten up and fly right woman! He'll be home soon. Now that I've got a grip, let's take a look at a couple pictures, shall we?
Looking through our wedding pictures today and this one made me laugh out loud! This was our first dance. We so didn't practice, and had absolutely no idea what we were doing hence the reason why we're laughing.  We are not dancers- at all. A couple years into our marriage I decided we weren't romantic enough so I signed us up for a swing dance class. That lasted all of one lesson. We both walked out of there thinking wrestling was romantic enough. haha! 

Oh this man! I love him so much. He completes me. He makes me a better person. He is my everything. 
I am the luckiest girl in the world. 

Dear Mr. Payne, 

Happy Six Years!!! I love you so much! 
Is Afghanistan done with you yet? I ready for a kiss.

Love, 
Mrs. Payne

Last One- Toes in the Water

Well folks, this is it- My last California post. {sigh} I love California.   

Watching the waves hit the rocks...

I know I've already mentioned this a time or two, but this girl loves the beach!

The sand doesn't even slow this baby down!

Here comes the wave!

I'm a little bit in love with this picture... okay, a lot a bit...

Where'd Maggie go? Of course, climbing on something... You should see her calves, it's pretty impressive... haha...

My three year old...

One of the best sensations in the world...

I love the beach!!!

This look- oh my! I think I better give her a break from the camera now, haha...

Rachel found some pretty seashells...

In fact, they are sitting in a jar on my desk right now...

Sandy Maggie toes...

Maggie spent most of her time playing up on the beach and climbing on rocks...

You'll never believe what Rachel found! 
"Mommy look, a mermaid rock!"
hahaha, we are such girls! 
"Aaahhhh-Aaahhh-Aaahhhhh!"

She says the darndest thing, I really need to start writing them down. I can't believe how much she's grown up the past few months. She's quite the little lady.

Momma and Maggie...

I love these girls. I'm so glad that we went on this trip together.

Goodbye California! You'll never know how much the Payne girls miss you!

Simple Joys

One of the simple joys in life is going for a morning run knowing your children are at home with happy tummies and watching cartoons. Caitlin and I ran 5-6 miles just about every single day we were in California- it was absolutely heavenly. I love having a running buddy. 

And I love coming home to these two little stinkers... I think they missed me...

   

Wild Animal Park

I only managed to get a few pictures on our next adventure to the Wild Safari Animal Park. 
I absolutely loved the set up of this park because it wasn't your average zoo. It was actually set up like a safari, and there was a lot of walking. The babies got tuckered out pretty quick, but it was definitely worth the trip. As soon as the girls spot an art wall where you can stick your head through, they run for it!
Especially if it's butterflies...

Or bats...

What were we looking at here? 
hmmm... who knows, but it sure was interesting...

View of the park... pretty huh?

My little cub checking out her paws...

We're going on Safari! WHOOP! To my surprise, once we got going Maggie didn't try to jump off the train! Whew!

Oh how I love elephants! Look at them all! They were being so playful...

Goodbye Wild Animal Park! It's been real, but it's time to get these babies in their carseats and watch them fall asleep before we even get out of the parking lot. 
I love it when that happens. Mission Complete.

The Birthday Post

What do Jessica's do for their birthdays?   

This Jessica finds an adrenaline rush. 
In this case- Paragliding!!!

Oh yes, nothing speaks to me more than jumping off a bridge, jumping out of a plane, or jumping off a cliff. 
I know, I need to get my head checked. 
Still, I love it!

Want to know the the reason why it took me so long to put this post up? Well, there are a few- the main reason being that I bought this FABULOUS, up-close, in your face, awesome picture of me up in the air! But, I can't find it anywhere. Argh, I can't tell you how frustrated I've been trying to find that dadgum thing! 
I finally decided that life must go on with or without the fabulous picture. {sigh}
Thank goodness for Caitlin taking these awesome photos for me! 

I was so stinking excited about getting the pretty red, white, and blue glider! 
Pretty sweet huh? Little things like that make me happy.

Basically, you get strapped into a glider, run off a cliff, and ride the wind currents off the ocean. 
To me, it was serene and relaxing. I could have stayed up there all day long.

Hey everybody!!! 

I told my pilot guy that I enjoy a rush and that he could try any crazy tricks he wanted on me. 
He didn't hesitate at the invitation for one second.
Before I knew it we were upside down heading straight down to the ocean and then we were miraculously picked back up in the sky by the wind. 
It. Was. So. FUN.

It was a great day for paragliding!

I can't tell you how spoiled I felt on my birthday. It was incredible! My birthday landed on a Sunday this year, so on Saturday we did the paragliding thing and then my Aunt, cousin, and I went shopping during the girls naptime. They introduced me to Nordstrom and Anthropology. Holy Cow! That's all I've got to say about that! Once again, just incredible and so much fun. I haven't had that much fun shopping like ever! It may have had something to do with not having these two turkeys in the shops with me... They are cute, they are swell, but not in the mall. haha!
Caitlin caught this one before church- Happy Birthday Mommy! 

My uncle Mark has some nice photography skills and managed to capture a good one of the birthday girl- that would be me! I love it when I'm the one that's the birthday girl. haha!

The Payne girls... how'd I get so lucky?

I died laughing when I saw this one! Oh Rachel! I don't think princesses go that far with their smiles!!! haha!

My birthday meal request- spaghetti and meatballs. yummmm! The girls sure appreciated that choice!

They even got me a big, beautiful, delicious cake! Look, it's me running! haha! Thank you for making my birthday so special! I will never forget it!
The big 25!!!